“Lu has other Russian girls?”
“Probably.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Natasha Medvedev?”
“Yes.”
“You know her.”
“Only through Lena.”
“And from the Majestic.”
He shrugged. “Yes.”
“Did Lena mention any others?”
His head shook as he sucked heavily on his cigarette.
“So you know only about Irina and Lena and Natasha. You’ve never heard of Natalya Simonov?”
Sergei shook his head, and this time Field thought he was telling the truth.
“Lena and Irina have been killed, but not Natasha.”
Sergei smirked. “She fucks better.”
Field stood, his fists bunched, then, watching the puzzled reaction in Sergei’s face, he fought to bring himself under control. “What do you know about Natasha?”
“I don’t know anything.”
“You must know something.”
“She thinks she is superior.” He snorted.
Field hesitated. “Lena is dead, so is Irina. Let’s say Natalya Simonov was also one of Lu’s girls. Who else does he keep, apart from Natasha?”
Sergei was recovering his self-confidence fast. “How should I know?”
“Think.”
“I only knew through Lena and, like I said before, we didn’t talk about it.”
“You’ve never talked about it with Natasha?”
Sergei crossed his legs. He examined his feet carefully, smoke from his cigarette spiraling slowly toward the ceiling.
“You’ve seen Lu at the Majestic.”
Sergei looked up. “Of course.”
“Apart from Natasha, whom else have you seen him with?”
“I’ve seen you with Natasha.”
Field stared at him. “Whom else have you seen Lu with?”
The Russian shrugged.
“No one, or too many to list?”
“Natasha usually sits close to him.”
“Why is that?”
Sergei looked at him. Eventually, he said with a leer, “You’ve seen it.”
There was a long silence.
Field felt a burning need to get out of this room. He put his hands in his pockets. “I’ll be back, Sergei,” he said.
Field returned to his quarters in Carter Road.
The common room was empty, so he went to the phone and dialed the exchange, asking to be put through to Maretsky. It rang and rang, and he was just about to cut the connection when Maretsky picked up the receiver.
“It’s Field.”
The Russian was out of breath.
“I need your help.”
Maretsky still did not answer.
“Another Russian girl was murdered on May 1, and a third at the end of March. Both women lived on Avenue Joffre.”
“I’m busy.”
“Irina Ignatiev and Natalya Simonov. I think they were both Lu’s girls.”
